Dust collector



March 25, 1958 A. R. HOOD ETAL I DUST COLLECTOR Filed'Oct. 18, 1955 [N V EN TOR-'5. 14L BERT R. HOOD J/ICK W. MIL LEE up through the sleeve.

Unite 1;

This invention relates to dust collectors of the type used with drills that form bolt holes in mine roofs.

As such holes are drilled, the rock dust falls down out of them and becomes quite obnoxious unless it can be caught and carried away. Various ways of collecting such dust have been proposed, but they require separate supports for the collectors to hold them up against the roof around the holes being drilled.

it is among the objects of this invention to provide a dust collector which is supported by the drill steel itself, which is easy to apply to the drill steel and remove therefrom, and which can accommodate drill steels of different diameters.

In accordance with this invention, a vertical sleeve is provided with a downwardly tapered inner surface that is slidably engaged by a plurality of laterally spaced clamping shoes. The inner surfaces of the shoes are curved transversely to fit around a drill steel extending A coil spring urges the shoes downwardly in the sleeve to move the shoes toward each other so that they will frictionally grip the sleeve and steel tightly enough to support the sleeve. Above the sleeve there is an open top dust receiver that has an opening in its bottom which permits the drillsteel to extend up through the receiver. The receiver is supported by the sleeve through a bearing that allows the sleeve to rotate with the steel while pressing the top of the receiver up against the roof. As the drill is fed up- Ward, it slides up through the sleeve and receiver.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of our dust collector, partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 11-11 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged central vertical section.

Referring to the drawings, a cylindrical dust receiver 1 with an open top is shown pressed up against the roof 2 of a mine around a hole 3 that is being drilled up into the roof by a drill 4 mounted on the upper end of an anger 5. The drill and auger will be referred to herein as a drill steel. The sidewall of the receiver is made of light weight material, such as wood or synthetic plastic. The bottom 6 of the receiver has a large central opening through it, and a tubular member 7 extends up from the inner edge of bottom 6 about half way through the receiver. A ring 8 is screwed into the top of this member, and a short tube 9 extends upward around the drill steel from the inside of the ring. A combined radial and thrust bearing 10 is mounted in the tubular member directly below the ring, with the outer race 10a of the bearing secured totubular member 7. The space between the ring and bearing can be packed with grease.

The dust receiver is supported by a sleeve 12, the upper end of which is rigidly mounted in the inner race 10b of the hearing. The sleeve has a tubular extension 12a that extends up through tube 9 and carries a sealing cap States Patent O 2,828,108 W ed Mae 3 1: 58

13 of rubber or the like at its upper end. The cap extends out over the outer tube and. down around it a short distance to an O-ring dust seal 14 encircling the tube. The cap will snugly engage the drill steel and turn with it. The cap deflects falling dust out over the sleeve and tube 9 and down into the receiver. a

As shown in Fig. 2, the sleeve 12 below the bearing is rectangular in horizontal section and has two parallel sides and two downwardly and inwardly inclined sides. Engaging the tapered inner surface of the sleeve is a pair of laterally spaced shoes 16, one shoe being slidable against each inclined side of the sleeve. The inner or opposed surfaces of the shoes are curved transversely to fit around the drill steel between them. The shoes are pressed down in the sleeve, to move them toward each other and tightly against the drill steel, by a coil spring 17 compressed against their upper ends and a shoulder 18 in the sleeve, as shown in Fig. 3. To help center-the spring in the sleeve and prevent it from touching the drill steel, the tops of the shoes may be provided with arcuate extensions 19 extending up along the steel.

Encircling the lower end of sleeve 12 is an externally threaded collar 21, on which an adjusting ring 22 is mounted for vertical adjustment The collar is welded to the corners of thesleeve. Extending through the adjusting ring is a release tube 23 that can be moved up and down. The upper end of this tube is encircled by a shoulder 2311 that is supported by adjusting ring 22. When this dust collector is to be mounted on the drill steel, the release tube is pushed up to raise the shoes against the compression of the coil spring. This will permit the shoes to be moved farther apart so that the drill steel can be passed between them. When the release tube is released, it will fall and the spring, will push the shoes down until they are forced against opposite sides of the drill steel by the tapered sleeve.- They will engage the steel and the sleeve, i. e. be wedged in between them, tightly enough to prevent the dust collector from sliding down the steel when the top of the receiver is pressed against the mine roof. On the other hand, the engagement should not be so tight as to interfe're with sliding of the drill steel up through the shoes as the drill advances.

The pressure of shoes against drill steel can be regulated by the adjusting ring 22, which can be set so that the shoes will engage the top of the release tube and thereby be limited in their downward movement in the sleeve. If in spite of this the shoes tend to bind on the drill steel, they will be moved upward with the steel and that will release them from it momentarily. Because the shoes tightly grip the drill steel, they and the sleeve will rotate with the steel while the sleeve and bearing 10 push the top of the dust receiver up against the mine roof. As the drill steel rotates, the rock dust from the hole descends and falls into the receiver. After the hole has been finished, the operator pushes up on the release tube to permit the shoes to separate so that the auger will slide down freely. The dust receiver is emptied after each hole is drilled.

The adjusting ring 22 controls the pressure of shoes against different size drill steels, and it also compensates for wear on the shoes.

It will be seen that a major feature of this invention is that our dust collector is supported entirely by the drill steel alone.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what We now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it un derstood that, within the scope of the appended claims,

ing a vertical sleeve provided with a downwardly tapered inner surface, a plurality of laterally spaced clamping shoes in said sleeve slidably engaging its inner surface, the inner surfaces of the shoes being curved transversely to fit around a drill steel extending up through the sleeve, a spring in the sleeve pressing upward against a portion thereof for urging the shoes downward in the sleeve to move the shoes toward each other so that they will frictionally grip the sleeve and steel tightly enough to support'the sleeve, an open top dust receiver above the sleeve having a side wall and having a bottom provided with an opening permitting the drill steel to extend up through the receiver, and a bearing between the sleeve and receiver for supporting the latter and allowing said sleeve to rotate with the steel while pressing the top of the receiver up against the roof.

2. A dust collector according to claim 1, including 'vertically movable means for manually raising the shoes in the sleeve to release them from the drill steel.

3. A dust collector according to claim 1, including tubular means extending upward from said bottom around said opening in the receiver.

4. A dust collector according to claim 1, including tubular means extending upward from said bottom around said opening in the receiver, and a flexible sealing cap at the upper end of said tubular means for snugly encircling the drill steel. 7

5. A dust collector according to claim 1, including a horizontal ring supported by the lower end of the sleeve, and a vertically movable tube adjustably mounted in the ring below said shoes, said tube being adapted to be moved upward in the ring .to raise the shoes in the sleeve ing a vertical sleeve provided with a downwardly tapered inner surface, a plurality of laterally spaced clamping shoes in said sleeve slidably engaging its inner surface,

the inner surfaces of the shoes being curved transversely to fit around a drill steel extending up through the sleeve, a spring in the sleeve pressing upward against a portion thereof for urging the shoes downward in-the sleeve to 4 move the shoes toward each other so that they will frictionally grip the sleeve and steel tightly enough to support the sleeve, an open" top dust receiver above the sleeve having a side wall and having a bottom provided with an opening permitting the drill steel to extend up through the receiver, a tubular extension secured to the top of the sleeve and extending up into the receiver, a flexible sealing cap rigidly mounted on the upper end of the extension and adapted to fit snugly around the drill steel, and a bearing between the sleeve and receiver for supporting the latter and allowing said sleeve and its tubular extension to rotate with the steel while the hearing presses the top of the receiver up against the roof. 8. A dust collector according to claim 7, including tubular means secured to the bottom of the receiver around its bottom opening and extending upward around said tubular extension, said cap encircling the upper end of said tubular means and being rotatable around it.

9. A dust collector for use with a drill steel drilling holes up into the roof of a mine, the collector comprising a vertical sleeve provided with a downwardly tapered inner surface, a plurality of laterally spaced clamping shoes in said sleeve slidably engaging its inner surface,

the inner surfaces of the shoes being curved transversely to fit around a drill steel extending up through the sleeve, a coil spring substantially concentric with the sleeve and compressed against the top of the shoes for urging them downward in the sleeve to move the shoes toward each other so that they will frictionally grip the sleeve and steel with sufiicient force to support the sleeve, the sleeve being provided above the shoes with an internal shoulder engaged by the upper end of said spring, an open top dust receiver above the sleeve having a side wall and having a bottom provided with an opening permitting the drill steel to extend up through the receiver, and a bearing between the sleeve and receiver for supporting the latter and allowing said sleeve to rotate with the steel while pressing the top of the receiver up against the roof.

' References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,204,673 

